Lately I’ve been wondering if I should try to shake up my illustration process. As technology advances, am I wasting time and money on using real watercolor? Should I convert to an entirely digital process? Ask any illustrator and they will tell you that process is essential. These processes need to allow for creativity and uniqueness, while still maintaining consistency of result and efficiency. My current process includes both watercolor

As 2017 draws to a close, I want to look back on one of the more exciting projects I completed this year. People often ask how I create my animation, and I’d like here to explain a bit of what goes into the process by looking at one rewarding project this year with, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. The task was to create a series of six one-minute animated videos

There are so many amazing animated music videos, I decided I’d like to compile a list of some of my favorites to share. (Many of these I’ve discovered thanks to my love of listening to free music on YouTube while working, but that’s another story.) Compiling this list was a bit of down the rabbit hole, as I spent more time than I meant to watching music videos, BUT, I’ve finally narrowed it down

We made our first demo reel! Scroll down to watch. In the process of making this, I did some research and learned a bit about what should be in a demo reel, so I thought I’d share some of that information here. This reel was assembled using Premier Pro. Following are six tips to keep in mind when creating a demo reel. 1. Keep Your Demo Reel Short The demo reel is

Recently I created a series of map art, using maps of Pittsburgh as the base. There is something completely fascinating to me about the physical shape of a city. I’m thinking of the shape you see when you look at a city map, or a satellite view at night. City contours, from this perspective, remind me of live organisms like lichen or sea stars, the way the roads reach from

This winter I had the opportunity to participate in a powerful community effort here in Pittsburgh. Many people lent their time and skills to make our anti-hate sign campaign a success, and in the end, this All Are Welcome Here poster, which Green Comma designed, has been posted in the windows of businesses and homes in all corners of our city. Print-ready PDFs of the sign, as an 8.5 x 11″ sign, a 11 x 17″ poster,

Are you considering an animated logo? We may be biased, but we think they’re pretty great. You may remember Green Comma’s blog post from a while back about what makes a great logo (hint: they’re memorable, unique, appropriate, and timeless). Now consider an animated logo – it’s all these things and more! We’re pretty happy about our new one. Still not sure? Consider these reasons: 1. We live in a digital

Recently I started drawing cat eyes. The iris is a strange, abstract thing. The colors look almost like outer space nebula, unexpected shots of light, twinkling stars, mysterious clouds. And of course in the middle is that shifting black hole, the most intriguing of all, the pupil, admitting but not emitting light. Eyes are creepy. They are wet and darting like some undersea creature, and, as someone with a bit of an eye phobia (who

I was motivated to write this blog after a few recent conversations I’ve had with older illustrators who don’t always seem to see eye-to-eye with me on how to create sensitive illustrations. One illustrator showed me a sample illustration that was blatantly offensive (an unflattering barnyard animal representing a religious minority) while another seemed bemused at having received feedback from a client that his illustration representing native americans was inappropriate. Though I’m not worried I might accidentally create an

This weekend, for the first time, I set up a table at a craft fair to sell cards, stationery and prints. It was a nice afternoon spent outside, I sold a few things, and ended up with boxes full of cards and prints that I’ll now need to sell at another street fair (look out for an Etsy page coming soon). But it was definitely my first time and there were a

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